Conrad Weiser House
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Nearest city | Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania |
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Coordinates | 40°21′33″N 76°10′26″W / 40.35917°N 76.17389°WCoordinates: 40°21′33″N 76°10′26″W / 40.35917°N 76.17389°W |
Area | 26 acres (110,000 m2) |
Built | 1729 |
Visitation | 14,017 (2007–2008) |
NRHP Reference # | 66000646 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
Designated NHL | October 9, 1960 |
Conrad Weiser Homestead is the historic home of Johann Conrad Weiser, who enlisted the Iroquois on the British side in the French and Indian War. The home, a designated National Historic Landmark, is administered as a historic house museum by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission near Womelsdorf, Berks County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park was founded in 1923 to preserve an example of a colonial homestead and to honor Weiser, an important figure in the settlement of the colonial frontier.
The site includes period buildings and an orientation exhibit on a 26-acre (110,000 m2) landscaped park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.. The park features walking and hiking paths, meadows, groves and a pond. The park contains statues of Conrad Weiser and of Shikellamy, an Onondaga chief who befriended Weiser and helped him keep the peace on the frontier of colonial Pennsylvania. The Friends of the Conrad Weiser Homestead assist in operating the programs.
The house was built in 1729 of native limestone. It was expanded several times over the years but it does include an original single room with fireplace and bake oven and a second room that Weiser added to his home in 1750. The home is decorated with many of the furnishings and household tools that were most common during the frontier era. A family cemetery behind the house is the final resting place of Weiser, his wife Anna and many friendly Indian Chiefs.